I can be a tough Cookie with Andy Flower behind me

ALASTAIR COOK said that he felt “nervous” ahead of his debut as England’s Test captain here in the early hours of this morning but admitted the steely presence of coach Andy Flower will help him exert the strong leadership needed.

Alastair Cook in conversation with Andy Flower ahead of the First Test against India []

The new skipper, who took over from Andrew Strauss three months ago, promised that the job would not change him as a man. There will be no Churchillian orations in the dressing room before play.

But he maintained that he still intends to bring a strong hand to the England tiller despite his soft-spoken manner.

And his rock-solid bond with Flower will ensure that the team do not lose direction again, however choppy the waters.

He said, when asked what sort of skipper he will be: “You cannot change who you are, the type of bloke you are. And you have to be authentic to yourself. I will be no different to how I have been as the one-day captain. But I would say I am very lucky to be working with a guy like Andy.

“One of his best qualities is he’s very, very strong-willed and knows what he wants. The players are conscious that there are no grey areas.

You cannot change who you are, the type of bloke you are

Alastair Cook

“I have the utmost respect for him and it is very important that we do have a good relationship and continue with that. When you have good leaders at the top, with good relationships, we see what the results can be.”

The presence of Flower ensures the thread of continuity runs from Cook’s predecessor, Strauss, into the new Test side. And it helps that the pair have been good friends since they first met and played together at Essex eight years ago.

They will need all that shared history as they seek to post a series victory here for England for the first time since 1984-85.

And while Cook’s appointment to the one-day captaincy, in May 2011, has seen England’s ODI fortunes turn around, the one reversal he has suffered came here in 2011 when his England side were whitewashed 5-0.

“There is always a lot of pressure here on the home team in India but one thing they seem to have done over the years is cope with that,” said Cook.

“They have an excellent home record, so history says they can deal with it.

“Our job is to put them under some pressure. And after three and a half weeks out here, we feel we are prepared. The proof of the pudding will be in the next four Test matches, but we feel we are ready.”

Cook confirmed the decision to leave Steve Finn out for this first Test, marking a change of tack from the style of Strauss, who always kept his cards close to his chest until the toss.

“This has just come a little bit too early for Steve,” said Cook.

“He has made some fantastic progress with the injury and it’s come on better than we thought. But, unfortunately, it was too big a risk to go into a game with a guy who is not 100 per cent.” England expect Finn to be fully recovered from his thigh strain by the time the series moves to Mumbai for the second of four Tests.

By that stage, both Cook and his counterpart, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will be hoping to hammer home a 2-0 series lead.

Dhoni, who, despite all his successes, has been criticised here for being unable to win away from home, will be pleased this series comes on home soil.

He was confident yesterday the pitch would respond to spin and reverse swing as the match progressed – something that he hoped would play into Indian hands. Dhoni, who smiled revealingly while

denying that he had had anything to do with the decision to starve England of spin during the warm-up games here, was asked whether Cook’s side had a weakness against slow bowling. He said: “What’s always important for teams is that you must respect your opponents.”